Instapundit linked up The Messopotamian, another Iraq blog. This one is also quite well written:

I am particularly touched by this comment:

On the personal side, my son ships out the end of Nov for his tour in Iraq. He'll be leaving behind his family and their little 9 month old daughter. I have alot at stake in your land now too.
Chuck T | Email | 11.06.03 - 3:48 pm | #

Dear Chuck: Your son and my sons will be in the same boat, may god preserve him and them from evil. My heart goes out to you and all the families of servicemen.

Each time I hear of a casualty, a hand squeezes my heart with pain. This has to stop. They were not bad these boys. We never saw anything bad from them. Perhaps some people had. The worst things happen when searches are carried out. I will have to make suggestions about that. Searches are important to be sure, but they could be carried out in quite different manner. The searches are carried out usually based on information received. Sometimes, and quite often, the information is false. This matter has to be discussed in greater detail.

We're getting enough now (we link 3 in our blog roll, and to my count there are probably twice that many out there at least) that in my mind a picture is beginning to form:

• It's getting better.
• The power is staying on for longer and longer periods.
• The guerilla movement is screwing up, attacking too indiscriminantly, and losing the support of significant portions of the population. I will be writing more on this later.
• The searches are driving the Iraqis bananas, and need to be re-thought. Without exception, they all comment on this. Someone needs to come up with a better idea.
• The Iraqi police really seem to be doing well.
• The army needs to be reconstituted not only to patrol the borders but to counterbalance the formation of local militias.
• They still want our asses out of there.

Overall, I think it's a positive picture. Not as positive as it could be, but definitely more than what you're getting from big media. Now, I must say again, I'm just a guy with a computer sitting in an office. Why aren't we hearing any of these points from the reporters who are actually there?